Francis Blower Gibbes was born in Jamaica in 1792. He was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and was on board the British owned Redridge which ran aground off the coast of Jamaica in 1805. Select here to find out more about his naval career.

ARRIVAL IN THE COLONY

He was recommended for a land grant in New South Wales as early as September 1822, however did not arrive in the colony until 1825 as a passenger on the Hugh Crawford.

LAND GRANT

He was granted 2000 acres in the upper Hunter in 1825 by Sir Thomas Brisbane. Soon afterwards he transferred this grant to William Bell Carlyle and Francis Little and moved to the Paterson area where he increased his holdings by purchase. His estate Norwood, can be found in the bottom left of the map below.

LIFE AS A SETTLER

Francis Blower Gibbes was appointed Magistrate at Paterson in 1827 and he or perhaps his son established an extensive run of paddocks which were used for horses. In the 1840's they were advertising for grooms and horse breakers for the estate.

ASSIGNED CONVICT SERVANTS

The following convicts were assigned to Francis Blower Gibbes.....

John Blythe per Lonach 1825
John Hilton per Lonach 1825
Darby Carey per Hooghley 1825
Patrick O'Hara per Hooghley 1825
William Mooney per Hooghley 1825
Robert Miller per Norfolk 1825 Later
John McGee per Elphinstone 1838
John Taylor per Albion

DEATH

Lieutenant Francis Blower Gibbes (b. 1792) died on 17th July 1844 at Hanover, Jamaica. His wife Elizabeth Sarah, (of Millennium Hall, Jamaica) died on 5th August 1858 at the residence of her son in law Hamilton Farish Stephen, St. Kilda, Melbourne. [1]

Their son Francis Blower Gibbes (b. 1815) died at Fitzroy Melbourne in March 1904, aged 89 years of age. In his obituary some of the details of the achievements of his father are mentioned.....

Francis Blower Gibbes of 63 St. David-street. Fitzroy, passed quietly away on Wednesday, March 2, in his 89th year, after a short and severe illness. He was a son of the late Captain Francis Blower Gibbes, who was Flag-lieutenant to Collingwood, in the Royal Sovereign, at Trafalgar, and also fought for the flag! "under every sky and on every sea,'' in the West Indies, on the African coast, and on long blockades in the North Sea. On retiring on his pension, the English Government presented him with a valuable grant of land in New South Wales, to which his family came after the emancipation of the slaves, when he sold his estate in Jamaica. Mr. Francis B. Gibbes was in Jamaica during the rebellion, and came to New South, Wales in 1839, where he lived for 17 years; and for the last 48 years he has been in Victoria, where for many years he acted as hon. secretary for the Victorian Academy of Art. He was born at Gretna Green, Scotland, in 1815, and married Frances Plummer, of Copt-hall. Linton, Bedfordshire.